Through The Ages
by BuckleMyShoe
Summary: A series of snippets from each school year, showing how Rose and Scorpius' relationship changes. Nice and cliched!
1. First Year

**Disclaimer: **It all belongs to JK!

**Summary: **A short fic following the relationship between Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy through Hogwarts. Not the most original idea, but hey...

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He made his way across the courtyard tentatively, warring with himself as to whether he should do this. Every time someone in the constantly moving human traffic cut across him he'd almost turn back. He wondered if he could just sneak away through the crowd, it was mostly made up of students twice his size after all, but he glimpsed the eager faces of his friends under the walkway and knew he couldn't chicken out. There would be a monster of a forfeit waiting for him if he did.

He kept his eyes on his target as he shuffled his way around buffeting book-bags and snagging robes. He could hardly miss it, bright as it was against the dreary winter scene; it kept his attention like a lit match in a darkened room.

He was near enough to make out her expression now; she frowned at a piece of parchment clutched in her hand, her chin tucked under her blue and bronze scarf, little wisps of that wild mass of hair escaping in the chill wind to swirl all about her head. He found he didn't want to turn away any more, instead he was drawn forwards until he was suddenly stood right in front of her, looking down on where she perched against the base of the stone statue.

It was a few moments before she realised he was there. Her eyes suddenly moved away from what he assumed was work, to rest on his shiny black shoes peeking out from under his cloak. Her frown changed from one of frustration, to one of puzzlement at the distraction. When she realised what this pair of feet meant, her gaze shot up. He shifted uncomfortably at the look on her face.

"Uh…" he had no idea how to do this. He didn't want to do this.

Her expression became less rabbit-in-the-headlights and more confused when he didn't immediately explain himself. Oh, for goodness sake! You are Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy! Malfoy's do not get rattled by girls! So what if she gets hurt? You don't even know her...

"Right…So me and my friends," he pointed with his whole arm towards the four small figures watching them intently, no doubt trying to lip read, thought Scorpius. She frowned at them, completely stumped as to why on earth this strange pale boy was talking to her. "That's them. We were just watching you, and thought you looked like you needed help…" Just keep going Scorpius, "Do you need help?" he prompted.

"Um." She seemed to be trying to figure him out. He shifted under her gaze again, already feeling the guilt that he knew was coming. After a few seconds, she looked back down at the parchment in her hands, then held it up for him to see, "I was just a bit lost with what Professor Hepplethwaite wrote on my homework…" Damn. She was trusting him.

"Oh?" he asked politely, encouraging her to continue. He hated being so Slytherin. This was mean. He knew he'd have to do it soon before he actually got into a conversation with her.

"Well, I've put here that the Full Bodybind curse--" her words were abruptly cut off with a shocked cry when she was wrenched backwards as if on a wire, ending up swinging like a rag doll from the statue behind her, her collar hooked on the wand in it's hand.

Scorpius was already hidden under the walkway at the other side of the courtyard before the last of the papers from her bag settled on the icy ground. He looked to his left to see four first-year boys clad in too-long green and silver scarves clinging to each other so as not to fall over from laughing so hard.

He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down: his heartbeat and his breathing were frantic and he felt too hot. He looked back across the courtyard to see a couple of older Ravenclaw students trying to catch the girls helplessly flailing limbs so they could get her down. His eyes suddenly felt all squinty.

His friends still hadn't noticed him through their violent mirth, and after one last glance at what he'd caused, he sped off in the opposite direction.

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**A/N: **There's going to be a snippet of each school year per chapter, which will vary in length, depending on how much I decide is going to happen ;)

Please review! This is my first fanfic, and I'd love to know if I've succeeded at all in making it interesting...


	2. Second Year

The small group of boys hovered conspiratorially. Two of them had red striped ties, and two of them had yellow. They kept glancing over at something on the other side of the entrance hall muttering to each other. Three of them had mischievous grins and bright eyes; one of the red-tied ones was looking fretful and kept brushing off his friends' encouraging hands.

One of the three seemed to lose his patience after a couple of minutes and grabbed Red Tie by the so-named strip of fabric round his neck, waving it in his face, and addressing him with a few exasperated words. When he still tried to shrug him off, he flapped him around the face with it.

Scorpius chuckled from where he was sat on a stone bench nearby, but stopped abruptly when a passing sixth year gave him an odd look. He focused back on the group of boys in his year and saw there was one missing. Following the excited gazes of the three remaining, he spotted Red Tie making his way to the far side of the hall. The determined boy was making a beeline for a spot just out of site, on the other side of the prominent staircase.

Scorpius stood up and followed him stealthily, his curiosity peaked. When he saw him stop a few feet away, he leaned casually against the foot of the stone balustrade, bending to unfasten the flap of his satchel so he could blame his searching for something to excuse his awkward presence. He carefully glanced up from under his lashes, but completely forgot about being stealthy when he saw who the object of this whole event was. There was no mistaking that bushy orange aura.

Scorpius had a definite sense of déjà vu: she stood by herself at the top of the dungeon steps, frowning at a piece of parchment in her hand. Red Tie cleared his throat. The only indication that she had noticed him was the intensifying of her frown.

"Umm…hi." He said. She glanced up at him briefly, as if he were an irritating distraction. When he got no more response, he carried on, putting on an air of bravado. "You're Rose Weasley, right? Albus Potter's cousin. I've seen you sitting with him in a couple of lessons."

She huffed and turned her parchment over to carry on reading.

"Right…Well, me and my friends," he pointed behind him, "just saw you here, and…" Scorpius noticed her eyes freeze on the page, "And, well… Willyougooutwithme?"

Scorpius stopped breathing. His eyes were wide as they locked on her, watching to see what she would do. Some of the colour had drained from her face, making her freckles stand out.

"Go away, please." Her voice was small but firm.

"Sorry?"

"I said _get lost_." She looked at him properly when she said this; her mouth was in a fierce pout and her eyes shone dangerously.

"_What?_" His mouth gaped."Hang on a minute; you can't just brush me off like that!" Scorpius' eyes flicked from one to the other as there was a moment's silence. Red Tie was standing with his arms dangling by his sides; his expression was incredulous.

"I know what you're up to. Go away now, please."

"What I'm up to? What's wrong with me? Actually, no; what's wrong with _you?_" He straightened up and folded his arms. "I thought you were kind of cute, if a bit snobby, but you're not are you?" Her expression lost some of its severity. "You just swan about and think you're better than everyone else 'cause you're so clever! Why would anyone want to go out with you, Ginger?"

Scorpius felt a little piece of his heart break off at the utter vulnerability of the expression on her face. She only let it last a split second however, then her colour flooded back and the fierce glower returned.

"_Piss. Off." _

She pushed past him, slamming his shoulder, and darted straight towards Scorpius. He saw the first angry tear land on her blotchy cheek as she drew level with him, then she had passed and he watched her storming unevenly up the stairs.

Scorpius almost ran after her, distraught by her misery, but then he noticed Red Tie's mates rushing over to him.

"What happened?"

"Why'd she run off?"

"What did she say?"

"Well obviously she said no, Dylan!"

"They could have been happy tears!"

"SHUT UP!" They all fell silent. Red Tie had his fists clenched and his eyes still focused on the figure that had just reached the top of the stairs. "It doesn't matter. She's not worth it. _She _doesn't matter." Some of the fury left his eyes; he seemed to be watching something unfold on the balcony. Scorpius turned around to see an older student, a Griffindor like Red Tie, trying to console Rose, who was shaking her head and wiping her eyes furiously. The teenage boy looked mystified. He must have got something out of her after a few hiccupping moments however, because his expression hardened and he scanned the entrance hall below him.

"Oh yeah, just get your big cousin to stand up for you…" Red Tie hissed.

Scorpius snapped. Why was he still talking? He'd said more than enough already to hurt the girl he'd supposedly fancied ten minutes ago. Was it just bitterness or did he actually believe the nonsense he was spouting? Scorpius whipped his wand out of his pocket and aimed it discretely._ "Langlock."_ He muttered.

Red Tie's eyes opened wide and he wrapped his hands around his neck. His friends turned to him, confusion turning to alarm when he started flapping his arms in front of his face and pointing at his mouth, making strained mumbling noises.

"What's up, mate?"

"MMHM! Mmhmhmmhm!"

"What?"

"I don't think he can speak…"

Scorpius chanced a glance up to the balcony. Rose had one arm raised halfway up her face as if she'd just wiped her eyes, but was distracted by the unfolding drama. Her cousin had put one arm around her shoulders; his eyes were searching the students surrounding Red Tie, trying to discern who the culprit was.

"_Tarantallegra." _Muttered Scorpius, and snorted when Red Tie's legs started flailing around uncontrollably, jerking him about in a crazy dance.

"_What's he doing?" _hissed one of the yellow-ties.

"Someone's jinxing him." The other red-tied one started looking about, his friends joining in when they realised the truth of what he'd said. Red Tie was still jigging about in the background, mumbling as loudly as he could and turning a very deep purple.

Scorpius tucked his wand back into his pocket and spluttered into hysterics. By this time the entire entrance hall had noticed what was happening and quite a few of the students were in a similar position, so it was impossible to single him out as the perpetrator.

He looked up at Rose again. She had lowered her arm and was smirking down at the spectacle, all traces of humiliation gone. She couldn't restrain a peal of laughter when Red Tie twirled off across the floor, scattering a group of amused Slytherins. This carried on for a few more seconds, Red Tie's friends running after him anxiously, trying to hold him still, until the Potions mistress came hurtling up the stairs from the dungeons, probably coming to find out why the entrance hall was roaring with laughter.

She assessed the situation quickly, strode over to the flailing second year, and with a swift flick of her wand, removed the jinxes. Suddenly released halfway through a revolution, his momentum caused him trip up over his own oddly-angled legs and topple over. The occupants of the hall, still snickering, started to move on hastily; nobody wanted to be accused.

Well, thought Scorpius, that couldn't have gone better.

He turned back once more to check on Rose, and froze when he met her cousins querying gaze. The grin slipped off his face, his eyes growing wide. This expression seemed to confirm what her cousin had been thinking, as the small frown turned into an admiring raising of his eyebrows. He turned slightly towards Rose, but paused when Scorpius shook his head frantically, stricken that she would find out he had eavesdropped on her humiliation and taken her revenge for her. He hardly knew her after all and had no right. The cousin frowned, puzzled, but nodded minutely.

Scorpius turned his gaze to Rose then, who still had her eyes on Red Tie getting interrogated. She had a very satisfied smirk on her tear-blotched face. Scorpius smiled and walked away.


	3. Third Year

**Disclaimer: **The magical world of Harry Potter comes from the magical mind of JK Rowling...

Two chapters at once. Wow... And the first time we see Rose's pov. I've checked this more then the last chapter, so it's probably better written...

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Rose was hiding in the Invisibility section. She had been standing behind a bookcase, concealed, for the past ten minutes, going over a list of the pros and cons of what she was about to do. Well, it was more just a list of cons, which was not very encouraging. She could not believe how bad her luck was sometimes. Every couple of minutes she'd tell herself to just walk round the bloody corner and do it, but whenever she unstuck her foot from the carpet to take that first step forward, it felt like she'd exposed a plughole for all her courage to drain into. She glared at the enormous clock on the wall, ticking away the seconds insistently, as if it was mocking her.

It wasn't as if she was intimidated by him, she told herself. Actually, that was a lie. She was terrified of him. Terrified he would make a fool of her again. She closed her eyes and felt the blood rush to her face as she tried not to let that shameful memory seep back into her head. She winced as she once again thought of how pathetic she must have seemed, following two older students around Ravenclaw tower like a pet for days afterwards. She scowled and blinked furiously to make the prickling in her eyes go away; a side effect of pondering how lonely she'd been when she had first got to Hogwarts. If she hadn't had her many extended relatives in other houses to look out for her, her first year would have been a nightmare.

Her eyes focused on the spot her eyes had wandered to, and she stood up straight. The gilded lettering on the book's binding glinted in the sunlight that streamed through the dusty window behind her: _'The Second Uprising of the Dark Lord: The Golden Trio' _it read. What was she dithering about for? She may not be a Griffindor, but she was the first child of Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger_, _for Godric's sake! Two thirds of the trio that were the saviour of Life As We Know It! She swung round the bookcase and strode forwards.

S

Scorpius sat in the library frowning. His fingers were searching over the desk top for his quill so he could make an adjustment to the Charms notes he'd just finished reading through. He snatched his hand back and jumped about a foot in the air when something very heavy hit the table next to him. A rather tatty book bag covered in badges appeared to have just fallen from the sky. "Alright Malfoy, lets just get this over with," he looked up at a rather pink Rose Weasley standing next to him.

There was the subtle creaking of an old wooden chair and they both turned to see the pinched, lined face of Madame Pince peering through a gap in the School History section. She lingered for a few seconds, narrowing her eyes in warning, before creaking out of sight again. They both turned back as if nothing had happened, used to the old woman's paranoia.

"Well?" Rose demanded, raising her eyebrows.

Scorpius stared at her, "Well, what?"

She huffed, exasperated, "The Astronomy assignment!"

"Oh…Oh! Right, yeah…" He reached under the desk for his own, slightly better kept book bag as she strode round the table and sat down forcefully in the seat opposite him. He glanced up as he dug around in his bag, getting distracted by her pink cheeks again, and realised that he quite liked the way they clashed with her fiery tangle of hair. His eyes roved down her face to her mouth, and his lips twitched at her pout.

"Malfoy." Realising what he was doing, he felt his cheeks getting hot as he met her gaze. She looked impatient, "Stop daydreaming with that flowery look on your face and get your work out."

"Yes, sir." He muttered, and her eyes snapped to his, narrowing. He smirked to try and stop his face burning, but wasn't sure if it had quite the desired effect.

She leaned forward out of her seat and dragged his Astronomy notes away from where he had just placed them on the table. He let her compare them with her own whilst he slid the now abandoned Charms notes between some textbooks in his bag and dumped it back on the floor.

"You've copied this constellation down incorrectly, so all your answers for the second section are wrong," she told him cheerfully. She held it up for him to see, smirking.

Scorpius frowned, it had seemed odd to him at the time when the stars had apparently been telling him that his first son would be borne of a donkey. "I thought they might be." Her expression faltered; she hadn't expected him to admit it.

"I suppose all your answers are correct?" He asked her, not unkindly, because he already knew they would be.

"Yes," she was defensive anyway, "I had Professor Macmillan check them over, actually."

"I thought they might be." He smiled at her. She sat in stunned silence for a moment, blinking at him.

R

"Right…" She looked down, shuffling the parchments around uncertainly. What was he doing? Was he teasing her? She'd expected him to defend himself; she'd come prepared with a whole host of comebacks, but none of them seemed to apply to this situation. He had smiled at her. With not even a hint of his usual smirk.

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**A/N: **I realise Madam Pince would be pretty old by now, but it doesn't feel like the Hogwarts library without her, and I thought the idea of her getting even more paranoid with age was pretty amusing X]

You may be wondering why Scorpius is acting a _teency_ bit more Malfoy-like in this one; well, it's because he is no longer an innocent (kind of) child. He has been tainted by so-called 'maturity' just like the rest of us...*sigh* And his subconscious, if not his conscious mind, realises he fancies Rose, so being Malfoy-like is an automatic reaction to that...obviously...

Please review! It would make my day! ^^


	4. Fourth Year

**Disclaimer:** I'm not JK, although I aspire to be even a fraction as awesome as her...

Sorry I took a little longer to update this time...

I would just like to say thank you_ so much_ to all of you who took the time to tell me what you think, I appreciate it _alot_; thank you also to those who added this story to their alert lists, it makes me so happy that people are interested in knowing what happens next! And to those of you who added it to your favourites, words fail me...are you sure you didn't press the wrong button? xD I can't believe people enjoy my ramblings so much! THANK YOU! ^^

Anyway...things start to heat up a little in this chapter. Just a _teency_ bit...

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If someone had told Rose Weasley this time last year that she would be working with Scorpius Malfoy of her own free will, with not even a sniff of an Imperius to be found, she would have told them to lay off the Doxy eggs. As it was, she sat opposite him, at exactly the same table as the time they had been paired up for Astronomy, doing homework. With Scorpius. Together. Her and him, on their own.

They had found themselves becoming 'Study Buddies' and she wasn't quite sure what to think. She wasn't sure whether she was ready to accept the fact that she had grown to like him; grown to actually _like_ Scorpius Malfoy; and she certainly wasn't sure whether she was ready to forgive him yet for the whole first year debacle. Although she didn't just put up with him as an acquaintance like she had at the beginning of their arrangement; after two and a half months, she now considered him to be something like a friend.

He must have noticed that she had been gawking at him for the past couple of minutes, because he suddenly spoke, still looking down at the essay he was working on, "I know my aura of manliness can be distracting, Weasley, but weren't you moaning ten minutes ago that you needed that homework finished for first thing tomorrow morning?"

Rose smirked at the top of his head, "Sorry, I was just picturing you with a bludger for a face," She shuffled backwards in her chair, trying to wake herself up. The seats in the library should not be so comfy, she thought. Surely they could put some kind of charm on them to keep you from drifting off when you're supposed to be working? Raising her clasped hands above her head, she closed her eyes and yawned as all the muscles in her upper body were stretched out. She made a funny squeaking noise as she changed the direction of her arms, stretching them out in front of her instead and arching her back forwards.

"You look like a small woodland creature coming out of hibernation," came an amused voice from just in front of her hands. She unclasped them and wiggled her fingertips. Opening her eyes, she laughed at how close she'd come to prodding him in the nose. "A small woodland creature with a large orange bush on its head."

"Hey!" This time she did prod him in the nose, squashing the point on the end with her finger.

"Ouch, Weasley, watch the claws!" He rubbed the sore spot gently, looking disgruntled.

Rose rolled her eyes, leaning back in her seat. "Don't be so pathetic."

Teasing Rose was Scorpius' favourite pastime, as it never failed to bring that pink tint to her cheeks. He watched her blush lightly now, as he tried to sooth the place where she'd skewered him with a sharp blue nail.

She looked back at her abandoned essay, read through the last couple of paragraphs she had written, and then started rummaging around in her bag.

"What've you lost?" He asked, as she became more frantic.

"I think I've left my copy of _Standard Book of Spells_ next to my bed."

"Rose." He could not believe she was a Ravenclaw sometimes.

"Hmm?" She nearly had her whole head in now, as if that would help her see better.

"Where are you?"

"What?"

"You're in a library, Rose."

She stopped rummaging and slowly withdrew from her battered satchel. She glared at him before standing up and disappearing between two nearby bookcases, off to search for what she needed. Scorpius was delighted to see her entire face had blushed crimson, and he couldn't stop himself chuckling, even when she returned pushing a ladder along its runners and reiterated her evil eye.

He stood up and walked around the table just as she was positioning the ladder. "Which one is it?" He asked her. She pointed up at a green book out of her reach, not even needing to look properly, as she knew this library better than she knew herself. She started to climb, just getting to the third rung when a long arm reached up past her and slid her target off the shelf. "You could have just asked. I can be useful sometimes." He smiled as she muttered angrily under her breath; her knuckles white where she clutched the ladder, her whole body leant against its slope. "What was that?" He cupped his ear.

"I said:_ You bloody Slytherin smart arse!_ I ought to have poked your eyes out with my 'claws', never mind your precious snout." She said loudly, so there was no doubt of him hearing her. They both froze as they heard the telltale creak of wood, waiting until it sounded again to signal that the nosy Librarian had leaned back behind her desk. If people could really glare daggers, as the saying went, Scorpius Malfoy would have been a pin cushion right now. Although he seemed to be delighted at the idea, because he hadn't stopped grinning yet.

"Well if that's what I get for helping…" He reached up and replaced the book, watching her scandalised expression as her eyes followed his hand.

"Wai--!" She cried automatically, and he paused with his arm still in the air, eyebrows raised expectantly. She turned her face back again, which he now realised was on his eye-level and closer than he had thought. His Malfoy smirk froze in place. She gave him a forced smile, "Fine, if you're going to be like that, I'll just get it myself after all."

Rose ascended to the next rung carefully, glad of the anti-slip charm as she watched where she put her feet; they were feeling oddly unsteady all of a sudden. Holding on with one hand, she made to grab the book that was now in easy reaching distance. But discovered there was a hand in the way, which she automatically wrapped her fingers round instead. They both snatched their arms back and stared at each other for a few seconds, eyes wide.

"I said I'd do it," said Rose after she managed to swallow her heartbeat.

"Fine, you do it then," said Scorpius, suddenly very serious.

He didn't take his eyes off her face as she reached up once more and dragged the hardback from the shelf. Had he been the only one to feel that jolt? Maybe she was just breathing unevenly due to the surprise of finding skin beneath her hand instead of book binding. He'd liked how it felt, and now he just wanted to reach out and wrap his fingers round _her_ hand. And keep them there.

She climbed down the ladder holding the book. A little careless, he thought; she could have just given the book to him. Then maybe he would have got to touch her again as it passed between them.

She was still rather flustered as she descended. What had just happened? It had felt like a static shock when she's grabbed Scorpius' hand, and then she had just frozen, staring into his blue eyes for what felt like ages. She felt the heat spreading up her neck. She'd never even acknowledged what colour his eyes were before.

As her feet touched carpet again, her right ankle decided not to support her anymore. The reason was presumably that it hated her, because as she stumbled backwards she saw movement in her peripheral vision, and the next moment, her back was pressed up against what felt like a rather warm wall, which let out an "Oof!" as she crashed into it.

Scorpius immediately wrapped an arm around each of her shoulders to stop her from overbalancing sideways, he told himself. The top of her head came to just under his chin, and a few fiery strands of hair had whipped up and stuck to his lips. He licked them reflexively, which meant the hair was then inside his mouth. He could taste her shampoo. _This is not very good, _was all he could think. She was leaning against him completely for support, so her back was pressed up against his torso. He felt her shoulder blades move against his chest as she lifted her hands to grip the arms around her shoulders; her only support. _Also not very good_.

"Um, thanks Scorpius…" he heard her speak awkwardly. Her head turned as she tried to see if he'd reacted and he saw the blush creeping across her cheeks, down her neck, and down her collar. _Really quite bad_.

He immediately let go of her as if her hair really was the fire it reminded him of, and took a couple of steps backwards, one hand going up to mess with his hair. "No problem," his voice came out slightly higher than usual, and he wished he had cleared his throat before saying that. He did so now instead, "Um, did you hurt your ankle or something?"

"Er, yeah, it just decided to give out…"

Rose had to grab the back of the nearest chair when Scorpius let go of her so suddenly. Her face was bright red, she could tell; and it seemed her lungs were finding it unusually taxing to send oxygen to her brain. There was something in the air that was making her feel woozy. _It's_ _Scorpius_, said a little voice in her head.

"_Shut up!_" She hissed.

"What?"

"What? Oh nothing…err, right." She sat back down at the desk and made a show of dipping her quill in her ink to write. Until she realised she didn't know what to write unless she looked it up in the book she had just gone to so much trouble to get. She grabbed it quickly and opened it in front of her face.

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Ahh, hormones...

I always love to know your thoughts, whatever they are, even if it's just a "Rose's hair sounds nice" or something... xD


	5. Fifth Year

I know, I don't deserve any readers for making you wait so long... I'm really sorry! If you're bothered about finding out what happens, anyway...

The other day my brain suddenly let me write again, so I grasped the opportunity. It's not perfect, but I thought I should post _something_.

Disclaimer: It's not mine. Geez...

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Scorpius wasn't sure it was true. Or maybe he just didn't want it to be. He shook his head. _No, stop thinking like that_. The sound of his shoes against the stone floor sped up as he increased his pace unconsciously.

Who had he heard it from anyway? Ursula Stampkin: hardly a very trustworthy source. It could just be gossip. The two of them did have a few classes together after all, and Rose had mentioned that she talked to him in some of them. People could make rumours out of less than that. He had to find out for himself.

He hardly acknowledged the bewildered gaggle of first years that scattered as he marched round the corner, his robes billowing dangerously. He scowled his way down the corridor, taking big strides with legs just starting to grow into their lankiness; his knuckles white from the way he clung to his bag strap, squeezing it tight at the join just above his hip.

The stone steps blurred into insignificance as he climbed, the voices of his classmates echoing down from the corridor above. A girl laughed shrilly. Scorpius' glower darkened.

He looked up as soon as he was able to see whatever waited outside the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom. Familiar teenage figures slouched against the wall, some chatting, some staring off into nothing. He couldn't see what he was looking for.

"Hey, Scorpius." A fellow male Slytherin was leaning at the top of the staircase, a sly smile behind his eyes. Scorpius grimaced at him. "Dull today, isn't it? Decidedly colourless." The smile crept out across his thin lips as he watched Scorpius scanning the students. His eyes were darting between the many faces, frown still in place. Suddenly, they fixed on something at the other end of the corridor; his mouth split open in surprise, his forehead relaxed.

"You alright, Scorpius? You look like you've seen a ghost." Scorpius didn't pay any attention to his grinning housemate; instead, he started walking forwards. Slowly at first, but once he realised what he was doing, he sped up, legs falling back into their long stride. A couple of people glanced up as he moved past them.

_He brushed a piece of her hair behind her ear as they walked closer. She smiled at him coyly. He kept facing her even though they were walking; a look of tentative happiness tensing his features. She turned back straight ahead, looking at her feet at first, but then she raised her head._

The smile slid off her face and she almost came to a halt. Her face flushed pink.

The Ravenclaw boy so close next to her faltered, looking to see what was wrong. He watched, puzzled, as Scorpius stopped in front of Rose. They stared at each other; him looking livid, her worried. He suddenly felt like he was the third wheel in the situation. Which was very wrong.

"Um, hello…Scorpius?" Scorpius didn't look at him, but all expression wiped from his face when he heard him, leaving it blank. Rose dragged her eyes away, turned, and tried to smile warmly at him.

She cleared her throat. "This is Malcolm, Scorpius. Scorpius, Malcolm. I mean…oh, you know what I mean."

"Uh, hi." Malcolm said. Scorpius still hadn't moved. Malcolm's gaze travelled behind him to the other students, a couple of them were peering curiously in their direction.

"You didn't meet me last night." Malcolm started when he realised it was Scorpius that had spoken. It seemed as if Rose was the only person he was paying any attention to.

"No, I know. I'm sorry. Me and Malcolm were out for a walk and I completely forgot. It's alright though; we can catch up next time."

Malcolm had no idea what they were talking about, so decided to just observe.

"It's OWLs."

"What?"

"It's OWLs this year. You know that."

"Yeah. So?"

"So, don't you think we should be working harder than usual? Not going off for evening strolls."

Malcolm watched her face turn a deeper shade of pink and her expression harden.

"Scorpius, it's only just November. We've got plenty of time."

Scorpius raised his eyebrows and folded his arms simultaneously; the first time he'd moved.

"That's not what you were saying last week."

"Oh, for Godric's sake, are you really going to give me the whole overprotective brother routine?" Scorpius tensed, "You're perfectly capable of working on your own, you don't need me. Now, if you'll let us past, we've got a lesson to get to." Malcolm checked: the professor had indeed opened the door, and was wafting the students through lazily.

"Hold on a minute."

"_What?_" She snapped the word in his face. Whatever he was going to say, he changed his mind. He gave her an especially poisonous glare then stepped aside. Malcolm stared at them staring at each other again, in what seemed to be some kind of stand-off, before Rose gave a frustrated huff, and strode past him. Realising he could go now, Malcolm followed her speedily.

They made it to the classroom door before he called her back. She rolled her eyes in frustration but motioned that Malcolm should go in and wait for her.

Rose turned back to face him. He was still standing where she'd left him. "What is it?"

The imperceptive mask had gone, the frown was back. Both his fists were clenched by his sides, one of them wrapped around his bag strap. "So he's your boyfriend?"

She frowned right back at him. "I suppose so. What's it to you?"

"When did that happen?"

"I don't know, there isn't an official ceremony. We had a load of classes together," she shrugged, "He chatted to me a few times in the common room; he asked me out, I said yes. Anything else?"

"Why didn't you tell me?"

She pushed out a frustrated sigh while she thought about that. The truth was, she wasn't sure. She'd told herself it was because it was none of his business, but in reality, she suspected it had more to do with how she knew he'd react. She was right about his reaction, of course. "I don't know. It's not really your business, is it… Anyway, it only really started properly a couple of days ago."

Some of his anger dissipated, but the tension was still there. Now it was more like he was concentrating really hard on what she was saying.

"So, you like him then?"

"Evidently."

He stared at her for a moment, then broke her gaze, looking at her feet instead.

"What's the matter with you?"

"Nothing."

"Well, you're acting weird, and I haven't got time for it." She moved as if to reach for the door.

"Wait."

"_What is it?_"

"Rose…" He still wasn't looking at her, but she felt as if he was glaring. She moved away from the door and closer to him, so they were just a couple of feet apart.

"What?" Her tone was slightly less vicious this time. His frown was back, and he sighed forcefully, looking anywhere but her face. _Wow, I didn't think he'd get this worked up._ The hand that wasn't clutching his bag came up to scratch the back of his head. "What is it?"

His eyes flicked to hers for a fraction of a second. _Why is he so uncomfortable? _She was just about to voice this question out loud when he opened his mouth to speak.

"I-" He stopped to glance over her shoulder. "I think…I think…maybe…I think maybe…"

"What? You think maybe what?"

He looked at her, exasperated. "Will you just let me finish?"

She folded her arms. "Well, hurry up and spit it out. Were supposed to be in class, Scorpius. Professor Hepplethwaite will be wondering where on earth we are. So will Malcolm."

He gave her a blank look. "Fine, it doesn't matter."

"What, all that for nothing? You've just wasted about five minutes of the lesson."

"Well, we mustn't keep Malcolm waiting."

"Oh, very nice."

"He might be wondering what were up to."

She narrowed her eyes. He just folded his arms and stared back.

The door opened behind them. "Malfoy, Weasley, will you two hurry up. I'm about to demonstrate a way of deflecting an attack back at your enemy on a stuffed mongoose. It'll be very important for your OWLs. You can kiss and make up later." Professor Hepplethwaite stood in the doorway, waiting. "_Come on, _I haven't got all week."

Scorpius broke eye contact first, scowling, and started forwards. She watched him walk back to the classroom and through the open door, ignoring the Professor, who pulled a face at him.

"You too, Weasley." She followed, vaguely confused, but not sure why.

Scorpius was sitting down in their usual place, avoiding her gaze. She took her saved seat next to Malcolm, not used to being on the other side of the room; everything was at the wrong angle.

Scorpius didn't look at her again for the entire lesson. For the entire lesson, Malcolm watched Rose watch Scorpius.

* * *

Ooh, it's getting tense! Sort of...

Please review, it might inspire me to write better next time. Hopefully...


	6. Sixth Year

Woo! Fast work from me... I find this chapter amusing...I hope you do too.

[Eek, sorry, uploaded it wrong first time...]

**Disclaimer: **Pfft, I wish.

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Scorpius drifted along the corridor next to Rose. He wasn't really listening to what she was saying as she chatted, he was paying more attention to all the different levels in her voice. He'd never noticed how melodic it was.

R

Rose kept glancing at his rapt attention nervously, occasionally having to guide him by the elbow around corners or out of the way of mischievous suits of armour. Not that he noticed. He'd been staring at her all the way from the library, and seemed completely oblivious to anything but her face.

She knew the reason. They'd been demonstrating Confundus charms in Defence Against the Dark Arts, and he'd been paired with Callum Rigby, the boy with the broken wand. Instead of leaving Scorpius Confunded, the spell had had an effect similar to an overdose of Cheering Charms, leaving him utterly relaxed and more than slightly loopy. He had been floating happily in a world of his own for the rest of the day, as no one seemed to be able to reverse the effects. All through their study session it had been like trying to work with an over-affectionate child. He had kept doing things like stroking bits of her hair and resting his head on her shoulder when she was trying to explain something important to him. She'd lost her train of thought every time this happened, often leaving her silent in the middle of a sentence, but he didn't notice, thank Godric. She did have a boyfriend after all, who she was very fond of. She doubted he'd take kindly to her thinking about resting her head on top of Scorpius' and closing her eyes: an impulse which she was trying to pretend hadn't occurred at all.

S

Scorpius often walked with Rose up to Ravenclaw tower after their homework rendezvous' in the library, so they could finish whatever conversation they were usually wrapped up in. Scorpius chuckled inwardly. Rendezvous'! Made it sound like they were meeting there for romantic trysts…

He focused on her mouth. His mind went even blanker.

R

Rose stopped talking as they neared the base of the spiral staircase up to her common room. She turned to Scorpius to say goodbye, and that she hoped he regained his intelligence soon, but all her farewell phrases got stuck in her throat when she saw his face. The dopey little smile was gone, and he was stood facing her with a rather more serious expression, his mouth slightly open. His blue eyes were scorching as he gazed at her mouth.

Oh dear. She should not have just felt that jolt in her abdomen. She was frozen to the spot, not quite knowing whether to run upstairs very quickly, or…stay to see what happened. Her eyes widened as he shifted towards her. Run away, Rose! Run away right now!

S

She had been using a sugar quill in the library, and had stuck it in her mouth whenever she wasn't writing. He wondered whether he'd be able to taste it. He suddenly decided to find out. He stepped forward, all his usual hindrances completely disapparated due to his currently addled mind. He bent his head down; she was quite a bit shorter than he was, he thought; and pressed his lips to hers. They were warm and soft. That was nice. He wasn't even aware that she'd gone completely rigid.

Wanting to test his theory, he open his mouth slightly, just enough so that he could lick slowly along the dip where her lips met. All the tension seemed to droop out of her body and she let out a small sigh. He pulled back and took in the serene expression on her face: her lashes fluttered against her cheeks, which had flushed a wonderful light pink. Like a doll, thought Scorpius.

"You taste like sugar," he said happily.

R

Rose surfaced most of the way out of her sudden trance at the sound of his voice. Her lips were quickly turning cold as the castle air dried the moisture on them. She opened her eyes to look up at his face, which was now much closer than it had been two minutes ago. The dopey smile was back.

Damn it, she thought, he was so pretty! With his smooth, pale skin (it was highly unfair for a teenage boy to have no trouble whatsoever with his complexion) and his tousled platinum hair. The little sections that stuck up around his head were normally being played with or flattened, but it seemed he didn't bother with preening when he was intoxicated, so to speak. He was prettier than her, and she was a girl, for Merlin's sake! There was something like triumph in his gaze, which she was completely fixed by, utterly powerless. It just wasn't fair.

And something else that wasn't fair? All she wanted right now was for him to do that to her again. And he wasn't. She knew she shouldn't be thinking that, but she couldn't quite remember why.

There was a sound of movement at the top of the staircase, echoing around the stone tower and out of the doorway a few feet away. Rose ignored it. All earlier thoughts of fleeing up those stairs had been utterly forgotten.

Instead, she licked her lips to moisten them again, relishing the unfamiliar taste that he'd left. Scorpius chuckled, "See? I knew you would taste sweet."

That was it; she grabbed his green and silver tie to pull herself up, yanking him down at the same time. He yelped at the sudden attack, but it turned into a surprised, mumbled groan as their lips met, and she was kissing him fervently. This obvious sign of pleasure made her abdomen jolt in funny ways again. She brought her free hand up to the back of his head, running it up his shoulder until her fingers curled into the hair at the nape of his neck. It was by no means a perfectly executed kiss, both their mouths fumbled messily at first, and she was rather too impatient wanting to deepen it, meaning she was tottering on her tiptoes. She gasped as his arms slid around her waist, pulling her against him and supporting her higher so she could reach his mouth more easily. She realised her arm was trapped awkwardly between them, so she released his tie and threw both her arms round his neck; trying to get even closer, trying to squeeze all the gaps into non-existence.

Why in Merlin's name had she never done this before? All those hours spent together in the empty library, hidden away behind stacks of books. A shiver of excitement ran the whole length of her body as she realised they could do this again during their next study session.

S

Scorpius was delighted to discover that her tongue tasted like sugar too, but was even sweeter. He squeezed her tighter and laughed in his throat when she squeaked.

R

Hang on, Rose thought, why hadn't she done this before? She was sure there must be a reason. There _was_ a reason…somewhere. Oh Godric, who cares, she thought as the kiss slowed deliciously, making her sigh again.

"I bloody knew it!" Rose started against Scorpius, pulling away from his mouth - which was easier said than done, as he wasn't slackening his grip on her at all. She couldn't see behind her to the person who'd spoken, but she already knew who it was.

"Scorpius, let go," she hissed. His eyes were open, but hooded and dark, and focused completely on her lips. He mumbled something and leaned forward to keep kissing her. Her eyelids fluttered when his hot mouth found hers again, but she pushed at his chest, "Scorpius, stop it! Let go!" Her tone reminded her of a Professor addressing a naughty child. She reached behind her and tugged at his arms, which were clasped low on her back. He relinquished her grudgingly, letting his hands brush her hips as she drew away.

Rose took a deep breath, trying to steady her heart rate, and turned around. Her boyfriend stood in the entrance to Ravenclaw tower, frozen mid-stride and with one hand clasped on the doorway, as if he had just stepped through. Rose had no idea what to say. Her face flamed red with guilt and embarrassment.

"Wh-what-Rose-I _knew_-With him-I just _knew_--," He couldn't seem to decide what to say or which question to ask first. For the first time in her life, Rose truly understood the feeling of wanting the floor to open up and swallow her.

"Malcolm," she said, but she didn't know how to continue. She couldn't really say 'Let me explain,' because she couldn't; she had no idea what had just happened.

The shock on his face disappeared when she said his name, to be engulfed entirely by anger. His mouth snapped shut and he stood up straight. His eyes moved away from her, as if he was too disgusted to meet her gaze.

"How long has this been going on?" His voice was flat.

"What? This is the first time…this happened."

His gaze locked with hers again and his eyebrows shot up, disbelieving. "Really? So what about all the stolen glances between the two of you? I've seen the little smiles across the great hall at meal times," He'd folded his arms across his chest, a sign of vulnerability, Rose noted with another shot of guilt, "And the late night study sessions…" She didn't miss the crude allegation beneath his words.

"Was that supposed to be innuendo?" She was suddenly on the defensive, partly because he'd reminded her of her thoughts of a few moments ago - thoughts she'd had whilst completely forgetting about him - but she was also hurt that he'd be childish enough to say that. He just smiled snidely, his eyes roving away again. They hardened as they focused on something just behind her, and she knew he must be looking at Scorpius. Oh Lord, she could just imagine what his expression was like. She turned her head to face him reluctantly. He grinned at her.

"What are you laughing at, Malfoy? Pleased with yourself, are you?" The flat tone of Malcolm's voice wavered.

S

Scorpius couldn't help but smile now when Rose looked at him, however mortified her expression was. He reached out a hand to twine a piece of her soft red hair around his finger, marvelling at the clash between it and the dark pink of her cheeks. She looked like a sunset.

R

"It's not his fault; he's under a spell," Rose tried to bat his hand away as gently as possible, but he just chuckled and started stroking her cheek with the back of his fingers instead, completely oblivious to the volcano a few feet away. He was facing her sideways on, his chest close to brushing against her arm. He wasn't even paying attention to Malcolm, let alone the conversation.

"_You put him under a love spell?" _Malcolm's eyes bugged out of their sockets.

"What? NO! Not me! I mean—he's not under any love spell! It was in class today, he got hit with a dodgy Confundus charm…" Malcolm didn't notice that she trailed off; he was just staring, incredulous, at the obviously besotted teenage boy touching his girlfriend. Rose had just realised that maybe all of this was due to that spell. Maybe Scorpius didn't really know what he was doing; it could all just be a side effect. Her stomach plummeted when she realised that, if that was the case, she had no excuse whatsoever for kissing him like she just had. He ran his thumb over her still-swollen bottom lip, making her breath hitch. She peered sideways nervously, watching his face light up as he realised she was looking at him again. Would he remember any of it? He had to, surely…

"Oh well isn't that sweet, you blushing beetroot when he smiles at you…I could almost throw up." Rose spun round, her mouth open in shock and hurt. "Don't think you can look like the victim, Rose. I haven't heard you apologise for anything yet." His expression was stern, but she could see the cracks appearing, he was speaking around a lump in his throat. She realised what he'd said was true.

"I'm sorry Malcolm." It was a sincere apology, even Malcolm couldn't deny that, but she wasn't apologising for what he wanted her to. His expression crumbled, "I'm so sorry for hurting you. I--"

"Rose doesn't taste like a beetroot. She tastes like sugar," said a voice in Rose's ear. She turned to see Scorpius staring at her mouth again. As soon as she did, he smiled and leaned towards her, happy when he thought she was letting him have another taste.

There was movement in the corner of her eye, and she turned just in time to see Malcolm dashing off down the corridor and out of sight.

*

A couple of hours later, when she was hidden from prying eyes behind her blue velvet bed hangings, Rose Weasley sat curled up in a ball, replaying recent events. There were many things that needed answering, but there was one question in particular which kept coming to the surface: why hadn't she pushed Scorpius further away when she knew the sight of him so close to her was hurting Malcolm?

*

A couple of hours later, safely ensconced behind green velvet, Scorpius Malfoy's eyes flew open. He shot up into a sitting position, staring straight ahead. What the _hell_ had he done?

* * *

Aw, poor Malcolm. He's a nice guy really, just really hurt and jealous...and not really that important, after all. I don't even know his last name... :D Gosh, aren't I cruel?

Please review and let me know what you think! Only one chapter left...


	7. Seventh Year

**Oh my Microsoft Word, I finished it! Sorry for _such_ a long hiatus, I kind of forgot about it...**

**Well, this is the finishing chapter. Technically it doesn't take place in the actual school year, but it's close enough. It's utter fluff, but what can you do? I just wanted to get something out so it would be finished. Hope it's been worth the wait and that someone enjoys it :)**

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Scorpius Malfoy said goodbye to his parents at Platform 9 ¾ for the last time. His father clapped him on the shoulder and muttered a few choice words of wisdom; he kissed his mother and she smiled and tried to straighten his already impeccably neat collar. He lugged his trunk into a compartment, then came back to the window so he could wave.

Rose Weasley said goodbye to her parents at Platform 9 ¾ for the last time. She reached up to kiss her father on the cheek, him spouting various warnings about boys all the while; although he was happier than he had been last year, when she had been going away for a year with a steady boyfriend and no parental supervision. She was pulled into a three way hug with her mother and her younger brother, and then for one of her own with just her mum.

Then it was time for all the cousins that weren't going with them, but had come to see them off: Dominique, James, Molly and Fred had turned up, having left Hogwarts themselves. Rose got a hug from each.

There was lots more hugging and kissing and shoving and joking among her family, as the members of the brood that were still at school got all of their things safely on the train, bit by bit. She'd miss all this, Rose thought. Being one of the ones included. She looked at her older cousins, and realised she'd be with them next year to see off Hugo. She'd have to make time for her brother this year; their last year together at Hogwarts. She chided herself for getting sad when she hadn't even got to the castle yet, and decided she could worry about it later on.

She waved at them all, stood smiling behind her, as she waited for Lily and Hugo to shove their way through the train door at the same time. They eventually made it with much hitting and swearing, and Rose climbed on board the Hogwarts Express, memorising every detail but at the same time trying not to think about the fact that this was her last journey to Hogwarts as a student.

Scorpius sat in his compartment, watching the houses whip past the window as the train made its way out of the capital. He'd watched Rose as she'd parted with her family, and had felt the usual ache that seemed to settle somewhere in his chest whenever he saw members of that clan interacting. He knew it was an ache to belong, and he had just learnt to ignore it over the years. This time was even harder though, because it had been joined by something else.

He let his thoughts spread backwards over the summer holidays, slipping through random moments and memories. They carried on over the last few months of school last year, and then stopped where he knew they would. The Friday of the last week of March, that's when it had happened: the cause of the ache he got all over him whenever he saw Rose Weasley. He would never be able to see or taste a sugar quill again without thinking of her.

The door to his compartment slid open suddenly, jolting him out of his lonely wallowing. He looked up, but there was no one there. He checked the corridor: empty too, except for the odd escaped chocolate frog. Or real frog.

He decided it must have been a sharp corner that had caused the door to come open, even though he hadn't noticed one. Maybe he just hadn't shut it properly. He sat back down to return to his mournful staring out of the window.

Rose wasn't entirely sure what she was doing. She'd done it on a whim when Albus' trunk had burst open, spilling the contents into their compartment to the sound of many groans and "Typical!"s. He had tried to lift it above his head with nothing but his own brute strength. The cloak had flowed out over her feet, as if it was nudging her, and while everyone else was distracted, she'd shoved it quickly up her robes. Now she was sat shamelessly ogling Scorpius Malfoy. But it was okay, because he didn't know she was there.

She watched him let out a large sigh as she tried to figure out why she had come. All she knew was that she had wanted to see him without things being awkward, for once. The second half of sixth year, after it had happened, had been more or less Scorpius-less. She knew that it meant he didn't want to face her after she'd kissed him like she had.

She'd spent most of the weekend afterwards in Ravenclaw tower, lots of people coming up to express their sorrow at hearing of her and Malcolm splitting up - not trying to get gossip at all, she thought snidely. The first Monday afterwards, she and Scorpius had had potions together. She had entered the dungeon to find their usual seats empty, and him sitting with another Slytherin at the back of the class. Since then they had both given up on their study sessions and had only spoken to each other if they had no other choice. He had always turned in the other direction whenever he spotted her in his path; no doubt he thought he was being subtle, but she noticed every time, her Scorpius radar always on alert.

It was more or less what she'd expected after realising it was all The Spell's fault, but it still hurt. And she _missed_ him; she'd got used to sitting with him in classes and doing all their homework together, amongst other things. She had her other friends, and of course she enjoyed their company too, but she always felt like there was someone missing. She'd find something in a book or think of something funny, already planning how to phrase it in her head before she realised the only person that would appreciate it wasn't talking to her.

Over the summer holidays, she'd really noticed just how hard she was taking his absence from her day-to-day life. She noticed how she was thinking about him more and more, until it got to the point where she'd drift off in the middle of doing something, distracted by a memory. She didn't like to dwell too much on what this probably meant. She had at first, slightly panicked about the whole situation, but had given up trying when it started to ache. Hugo had teased her, thinking she was going through some kind of dippy teenage girl phase, and her dad had started frowning at her more, as if he was trying to figure something out. Her mum had tried to have chats, but she'd managed to gloss over the main issue every time, feeding her lines about stress over exams and sadness about her last year at Hogwarts (worries which were just as real, but probably not as prominent as they should be in comparison).

And she wanted to make up with him as soon as possible this year with their N.E.W.T.s coming up, because she knew they would be working extra hard, and she needed her study buddy. That's what she told herself anyway. However, the only way she could think of getting him to forgive her was to perform a memory charm on him. She doubted he could ever look her in the eye again otherwise, knowing she'd basically snogged his face off while he was drugged. _That sounds very bad in that context._

She watched as the boy in question leaned over towards the window.

Scorpius breathed on the glass, leaving an area frosted with condensation. He drew two dots and an upside-down curve before the edges melted away to leave a few smudges, and sat back to admire his masterpiece.

He was suddenly aware of a strange choking sound coming from the seat opposite him, and he looked round in confusion. Nothing looked any different. He wondered whether it was something in his trunk in the luggage rack opposite. He got up and stood on his tiptoes to press his ear to the side of it, but it wasn't coming from there, it was coming from the seat he was leaning over.

Rose couldn't help but start snickering when she had seen what Scorpius had drawn on the window. She could tell that he could hear her when he started looking around the compartment, but her nerves meant she couldn't stop. She stuffed her fist in her mouth, but that just seemed to make it worse. He stood up and started straight in her direction, and she only just had time to throw her knees to the side before he would have walked right into them.

As he reached over her to press his right ear to the trunk above her head, his grey jumper rode up to uncover a section of very smooth-looking skin with a light trail of hair disappearing into his waist band - which just happened to be right at her eye level. She nearly choked on her own fist.

He stepped back at the rather violent snarfing sound this created, and ran his eyes over the seat again, alarmed. Alright, this wasn't going to last much longer anyway, she thought, and threw the cloak off her head.

"Arghh!" he yelled, before toppling over back into his seat, his arms curled into his chest like a frightened animal. She couldn't help but laugh completely as he gaped at her, petrified.

"S-sorry! The look on your f-f-face!" She could barely get her words out.

"Rose?" He had relaxed a bit when she had spoken, but his face was still a mask of shock. "_What the hell?_"

He just stared at her, not quite believing she was there. Where in Merlin's name had she come from? She couldn't have apparated; she seemed to have been covered by what he assumed to be an invisibility cloak; he realised it was still pooled around her waist, leaving her a floating torso.

"What are you doing here?" He was still more or less frozen in the position he had landed in, his heart pounding, "What?-How?-Stop laughing!" He had just been given the shock of his life, so he thought he should at least have a bit of sympathy. Her eyes shot to his when she noted his embarrassment and she calmed down enough to speak properly. There was still an enormous grin on her face though.

"Sorry, Scorpius…but it was pretty funny," he didn't say anything, "Oh, alright! I just thought I'd come and see you. Like I usually do on train journeys." She looked a bit sheepish and pulled the cloak from round her middle. She was already wearing her school robes, of course. Scorpius sat up straight, suddenly remembering the reason he was so glad to see her.

"Okay. Why the heart-attack though? And I assume that is the legendary Potter invisibility cloak…"

"Um, yes. I don't know why really…," She shrugged, then smiled again. "You looked like you needed a bit of company though." She indicated the window, "Drawing sad faces and staring off into the distance all morosely." She stuck her bottom lip out. Scorpius shuffled uncomfortably when she laughed.

"So what's so depressing?" He noticed her voice took on a different quality, as if she was trying too hard to keep it teasing. He looked up at her face slowly and met her eyes, wondering how to answer. Her cheeks turned pink.

The compartment door clattered open, admitting a skinny teenager with a mess of black hair on top. "Rose!" It exclaimed, spotting the cloak on the seat next to her, "I knew it was you!" He snatched it up, clutching it to his chest. "What're you doing nicking my stuff, eh?"

"Er, sorry, Albus."

Her cousin seemed to realise he had walked into a tense atmosphere, and his eyebrows twitched upwards when he noticed Scorpius. He looked between the two of them slowly, and smirked when this elicited a dark blush from Rose. "Well… don't do it again. At least not without asking first…" He stalked out of the room, slowly pulling the door closed behind him. He watched them through the glass for a couple of seconds, winked once, and then sped off.

Scorpius turned back to Rose to see she was scowling at the door. She pulled out her wand with a wave and after a couple of muttered incantations, he heard the lock click. He also heard a clatter and a surprised squeal from down the corridor. He gulped.

She put her wand away with a sniff. That would teach her meddling cousin to be such a smart arse. She took a deep breath and tucked her unruly hair behind her ears. Right, she decided, she was just going to get it over with.

"Look, Scorpius, I'm really sorry for kissing you. It was foolish and I realise it's made you uncomfortable, but I'm really hoping that we can just forget about it and still study together. Because I've missed you, and N.E.W.T.s are coming up, and- wait-" Oops, she wasn't going to say that she missed him; especially not in that order… She clamped her mouth shut and stared at her knees, but she couldn't take it back now. There was suddenly silence everywhere.

Scorpius just gaped at her. She was apologising to _him?_ Had the world been confunded?

"Er, what?" Was his intelligent reply. No, wait, he could do better than that. He shook his head to clear it. "I mean: why are you apologising? I kissed you first. And I thought you hated me for breaking you and your boyfriend up?" _That was slightly more coherent, well done Scorpius._

She looked up at him then, "What? I don't hate you! What gave you that idea?" There seemed to be a lot of confusion flying around the compartment. Scorpius could almost see it buffeting around their heads like bats.

"Well, you haven't spoken to me since that night, and you spent the whole weekend locked in your dormitory when Malcolm dumped you. Apparently." He quickly added.

"Malcolm didn't dump me!" She was frowning. "For your information it was of mutual consent that we split up." This news made Scorpius' stomach flip. "And I have spoken to you! I asked if you could pass me that Niffler in Care of Magical Creatures and you said 'okay' and did."

"Well that was hardly a conversation. And I thought you did that on purpose so it would nick my watch." Scorpius wasn't quite sure what direction this conversation was taking them in, but it made his stomach happy for some reason.

Her frown relaxed, "Well it is pretty ugly."

"It's a family heirloom! And I don't have another one…" He folded his arms over the offending item to hide it from sight.

"And you licked me."

His reply to _that_ was perfectly reasonable: "Uh?" he said.

"You didn't kiss me first: you licked me. _I _kissed_ you._"

Scorpius stared into her wide eyes. He seemed to be unable to move.

Oh Lord, had she really just said that? That sent her mind to the gutter rather more easily than she would have liked. Thoughts of tongues and bare skin… _Okay, Rose, stop right there. _She stared right back at Scorpius, whose expression was slowly changing from shock to… something else. Her breathing came shallower.

"I…mean…I meant…" She lowered her gaze to his lips and started remembering certain occurrences very vividly; namely how it had felt to be kissed by said lips. "Oh, just come here, would you," her voice wobbled and she hoped she didn't sound too desperate. Apparently, Scorpius didn't care, because he shot across the compartment to sit next to her.

"You're not wearing a tie," Scorpius heard vaguely, as he found himself licking his lips. And then there it was: her signature blush; that wonderful spread of pink across her freckled skin.

Rose saw his tongue dart out of his mouth and felt her face grow hot. This was the nearest she'd been to him in months, apart from in her memories, and the effect of having the real thing right in front of her after so long made her head spin. She would have expected this to make her feel pathetic, like a swooning schoolgirl, but her thoughts were a bit misty and she couldn't bring herself to be bothered.

"Rose. You know I wouldn't have done it if I hadn't been hit with that spell?"

"Oh, yeah, I know…" That wasn't what she'd expected him to say. There was relative silence for a few moments.

_Hang on, what did that mean?_ "Um…you mean…you didn't want to?" _Well, that's what you call mixed signals_.

He watched her mouth form each word slowly, as if she wasn't sure what they meant; there was an accompanying crease of confusion between her eyebrows. Replaying what she'd said a couple of seconds afterwards, Scorpius tried to concentrate through the warm fuzzy blanket that was currently enveloping his brain.

"Err…wha-…? That's not what I meant! I meant that I'm glad I did. Get hit with the spell, I mean. I mean, I never would have dared…had the courage to do it, or thought you'd have wanted me to, either, which I'm not saying you did, but, I mean I really want- did you?" The fuzzy little bubble he'd been in had popped half way through that befuddled speech and he was now meeting her utterly bewildered expression with his worried and more than slightly flustered one.

"Sorry?"

"Did you… like it?"

Her eyes widened. "Er, well, I would've thought the answer to that was pretty obvious."

"Oh…good. I wasn't sure whether that had been part of the spell's effects on my perception." He frowned for a split second at the unusual eloquence he'd just managed, but blinked it away. His heart seemed determined to beat right through his chest, and he was trying to ignore it.

There were another few moments of silence while the two of them steadied their breathing. Scorpius was trying to focus on a point somewhere beyond Rose's knee, which made him realise how very close to her he was sitting.

_Probably too close… If I leaned forwards right now…_

"Why have you been avoiding me then?" She asked him suddenly. He looked back to her face to find her eyes now concentrating on her own clasped hands. "You moved away from me in lessons, and don't think I didn't notice you sneaking off whenever you saw me coming in your direction."

Scorpius was surprised at how dejected she sounded. He realised he must have really hurt her. He watched the shadow of her eyelashes flicker on her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I didn't think you'd want to talk to me. And I was a bit scared of you." She looked up with narrowed eyes, but there was a smile tugging at her pursed lips.

"Oh? Scared I'd give you a live demonstration of a Howler for splitting me and Malcolm up?"

"Well, yes. Something like that. Actually, I'm surprised you haven't yet. What's stopping you?" He relaxed as soon as she did, and a joking smirk curved his lips.

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Her small smile turned devious. He became aware of movement on her lap, and looked down to see her wand twirling between slender fingers. He remembered the events of a few minutes before, and the smile wavered. He started suddenly at her peal of laughter; "Oh, don't be ridiculous, Scorpius! If I'm honest, I'm glad we broke up, our relationship was getting pretty boring. We'd been going out for over a year, for Godric's sake! And he didn't really change. He's the same as he was when he was fifteen. Just kind of…nice." She grimaced lightly, "I mean, don't get me wrong; I liked him, at first, and he was…nice, but…he wasn't you, I suppose." She shrugged and looked back at her knees, flushing red again.

_Oh, _thought Scorpius. A huge grin spread across his face; he was completely unable to help himself. "Oh." He said.

She looked at him, smirking. "Was that a suggestive tone of voice?" He just kept grinning. She breathed out shakily and jerked her head as if to say "c'mere". He leaned towards her quickly. "You don't have to look so pleased wi-mmph!" She was cut off with a squeak when he didn't stop to let her speak. Surprisingly, she didn't really care; she just let her eyes close and kissed him softly back.

An afternoon later, the couple stepped out onto Hogwarts platform. Rose was feeling rather buoyant, and didn't seem to be able to get rid of the goofy smile on her face. A fellow seventh year shuffled along nearby, looking frustrated about something. Rose watched him pass; _thank Godric for Callum Rigby, _she thought happily.

As her and Scorpius made their way towards the path to the carriages, they came across a rather large group of people who were all staring at their joined hands. _Oh right, _thought Rose. They stopped in front of them; "Hello," she didn't even need to fake a cheery tone, it seemed she was incapable of anything else.

Albus looked round at the rest of the assembled clan smugly; "What did I tell you?"

* * *

**Well, there you go. Hope it wasn't a waste of your reading time ;]**

**Might be back with more fics at some point in the future, but who knows? BuckleMyShoe signing off for now. Buh-bye!**

**P.S. While I was writing this chapter I had my music on random and 'New Rose' by the Damned came on. It made my chuckle at how apt it was...  
**


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